ARTICLE ARCHIVE

Notable

Though once derided by GM insiders as a public relations ploy, hybrids are now en vogue as the automaker began series volume production of its 2-mode hybrid transmission at its Baltimore, MD, Powertrain plant in October.

The growing deployment of product lifecycle management (PLM) among both OEMs and suppliers hasn’t gone unnoticed at IBM (www.ibm.com), which recently launched new Centers of Excellence to assist in the deployment of PLM throughout the supply chain in automotive (as well as other industries). Located in Nice-La Gaude, France; Boeblingen, Germany; Beijing, China; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Yamato, Japan; Montreal, Canada; Hawthorne, NY, and Dallas, TX, the centers will provide access to more 3,000 researchers, 9,000 software developers and 1,000 technology consultants.“We have seen a shift in the way our customers are trying to execute their business.

The battle to develop GM’s E-Flex electric vehicle architecture took a significant step forward when Compact Power (www.compactpower.com), a subsidiary of Korea’s LG Chem, delivered its first battery pack to the automaker.

It seems that every time a car maker comes out with a midsize sedan it is “better than a Camry or an Accord” or some variant thereof. Chevy has said it in the past. But with the ’08 Malibu, they are putting more than rhetoric on the road.